See, this is the reason why showing concern of where and how songs are placed in music charts is so critical, and how making a simple mistake can cause dramatic reverberations throughout the music ecosystem where now you have long-standing institutions and entire genres of music being accused of outright racism due to a simple clerical error involving a song that we’d never even heard of if it weren’t for the meme culture.

“Old Town Road” is a 1:53 “song” that was released in December 2018 by Atlanta-based rapper and trap DJ named Lil Nas X. The song was also set randomly to scenes from the Wild West video game Red Dead Redemption 2 in a YouTube video, and has since gone viral, primarily off the back of Instagram and other social media users making meme videos which incorporate the song. Though the song is clearly a hip-hop track with a trap beat, Lil Nas X labeled it as country on SoundCloud, iTunes, and elsewhere to purposely receive favorable chart positioning, and “Old Town Road” ended up debuting at #19 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart dated March 16th.

Then Billboard, after discovering the ruse, switched Lil Nas X and “Old Town Road” to the Hot Rap Songs chart. The song does not appear at all in Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart dated March 23rd, and instead appeared on the Hot Rap Songs at #24 with a “New” tag slapped on it, meaning it was a debut entry on the chart.

So how all of a sudden after “Old Town Road” was finally slotted properly and everyone was going about their merry way was country music and Billboard accused of racism for supposedly excluding “Old Town Road” from the genre? Once again we can trace it back to the most biased, uninformed, and agenda-laden periodical covering country music, Rolling Stone.

First off, this title is complete and utter fucking bullshit. It’s an outright vociferous and irreconcilable lie composed for click-bait, no different than when Rolling Stonelied about Eric Church on their cover, calling him an anti-gun Bernie Sanders supporter with the express purpose of ginning up political dissent and conflict at the expense of the truth to create attention. And you don’t have to go any further than Rolling Stone’s article on “Old Town Road” to verify this.

Country music as a genre was not, and is not in a position to make a judgement call for Billboard on where they choose to slot “Old Town Road” in the periodical’s genre charts. That decision is solely within the jurisdiction of Billboard Magazine and their chart managers. No major country music artists, no country music labels, no country music periodicals, no governing bodies such as the CMA, nobody in country music chose to remove Lil Nas X and “Old Town Road” from the country charts. Billboard did. Even Saving Country Music, who did oppose including “Old Town Road” on the country charts, only did so after Billboard had already made its decision to move the song to hip-hop, same a commentator Grady Smith who addressed the issue in a YouTube video.

Beyond the title, the Rolling Stone article actually has some good information on just how Lil Nas X and “Old Town Road” got slotted in country music in the first place, and it had nothing to do with anyone making a judgement call based on genre, or race. Instead, Lil Nas X chose to call the track country in metadata listings because he knew the track would get buried in hip-hop, but would have a clear path in country due to the lack of gatekeepers in the genre, and no natural competition because it’s a hip-hop song that would not have to compete with hip-hop’s heavy hitters.

Danny Kang, who is the manager of another viral sensation, Mason Ramsey, lays out expertly how Lil Nas X gamed the country system.

“On SoundCloud, he listed it as a country record,” says Kang. “On iTunes, he listed it as a country record. He was going to these spaces, gaining a little bit of traction on their country charts, and there’s a way to manipulate the algorithm to push your track to the top. That’s favorable versus trying to go to the rap format to compete with the most popular songs in the world.”

There you go. The inclusion of “Old Town Road” in country was a big market manipulation that was able to be perpetrated upon country because the genre’s leadership is asleep at the wheel. Lil Nas X is a con artist who hijacked the country charts for a boost in attention, and now country music—which had nothing to do with it—is being labeled racist because Billboard—which has no direct affiliation with country music—rightly figured out the subterfuge, and set the record straight.

In the same Rolling Stone article, writer Elias Leight—who is not a country music reporter—asserts, “Expelling Lil Nas X’s single from Hot Country Songs points to a complicated racial dynamic. The music industry still relies heavily on old-fashioned definitions of genre, which have always mapped on race—Billboard’s R&B chart, for example, was originally titled ‘race music.’ “

In other words, Elias Leight and Rolling Stone asserted that “Old Town Road” wasn’t removed from the country charts due to it not being a country song and was simply using country for better traction, but because Lil Nas X is black. This has caused a massive backlash from many fronts against both Billboard, and country music at large, for excluding Lil Nas X and “Old Town Road” solely due to race.

However this accusation that country music or Billboard is excluding Lil Nas X because he’s black is absolutely irresponsible and unfounded. Though Elias Leight brings up Beyonce, and how her song “Daddy Lessons” was not allowed to compete for a Grammy Award in 2016, he fails to point out (as is always the case when this anecdotal story is brought up) that Beyonce was invited to perform the song along with the Dixie Chicks at the 50th Annual CMA Awards, and the performance was the centerpiece of the entire event. If country music was excluding Beyonce or black artists in general, how was this allowed to happen?

Furthermore, how do you explain how Charley Pride had 40 #1 hits in country music over a 20 year period if country music purposely excludes black artists? Is that too ancient of history for you? Not representative of the new Trump era? Then how did Jimmie Allen in December become the first artist of any race to have the longest-leading debut song on top of the Billboard Country Airplay chart since 2001 when his song “Best Shot” hit #1 for a third week? If country music solely excludes artists due to race, how did Kane Brown’s latest record Experiment debut at #1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart, how did he earn two #1 songs so far, and how did his debut album go Platinum?

Of course country music’s past has been filled with racist components, no different than Billboard’s. But this idea that country music or Billboard is excluding anyone due to race is irresponsible. Furthermore, Rolling Stone‘s assertion of racism based off of unfounded accusations and complete ignorance of the full expanse of country music history isn’t stamping out racism, it is creating it by baiting both sides into engaging in a racially-charged argument we shouldn’t be having in the first place. Instead we should be focusing on actual racism, including in music, and engaging in meaningful discussions on songs whose lyrics aren’t as elementary, misogynistic, immature, and intellectually-insulting as,

Ridin’ on a tractor, Lean all in my bladderCheated on my baby, You can go and ask herMy life is a movie, Bull ridin’ and boobiesCowboy hat from Gucci, Wrangler on my booty

The real story here is how Lil Nas X manipulated the country music system to gain traction for his shitty meme song, and what should be done to make sure further acts of metadata malfeasance don’t result in unnecessary conflict in the future.

For Billboard’s part, a spokesperson has said the removal of “Old Town Road” from the country charts “had absolutely nothing to do with the race of the artist.” A further statement from Billboard reads, “Upon further review, it was determined that ‘Old Town Road’ by Lil Nas X does not currently merit inclusion on Billboard‘s country charts. When determining genres, a few factors are examined, but first and foremost is musical composition. While ‘Old Town Road’ incorporates references to country and cowboy imagery, it does not embrace enough elements of today’s country music to chart in its current version.”

However it was Billboard’s initial lack of clarity, and unwillingness to release a statement or address the issue until Rolling Stone accused it and country music of racism that helped lead to this misunderstanding. This is why Saving Country Music called for clarification from Billboard on March 23rd.

The other component that caused the exacerbation of this issue was the woeful ignorance of the country music genre by the Rolling Stone writer, which is an increasing issue with how popular mainstream publications are dealing with country music. This also came up when Stereogum surmised that Lil Nas X might usher in a new era for country rap. Once again, to people on the outside looking into country, incorporating country into rap is sold as some sort of new paradigm or evolutionary progress in a stodgy, traditional genre, when rap is a 40-year-old art form, and in 2011, Jason Aldean had the biggest single in the entire country year with the country rap song “Dirt Road Anthem.” That was eight years ago, and set the foundation for the rise of Bro-Country, which is a country rap hybrid. The hick-hop craze peaked in 2015, and Bro-Country has been on the wane for multiple years now. An intimate knowledge of country music would have avoided spreading of such misnomers.

Rolling Stone does have a specific country music division that could have at least offered a little bit more insight into how the genre is more inclusive to African American performers now more than at any other time in its history. Should we still be on the lookout for institutional racism in country music, in Billboard charts, and in other places? Of course we should. But if accusations of racism are thrown out fast and loose without any provocation, evidence, and are completely divested from a broad-based perspective on both the near and long-term history of country music, it erodes the potency of that important term, and the gravity of which that charge should carry when true racism evidences itself in music and beyond.

109 Comments

Good grief. Fuck Rolling Stone.
They wouldn’t call it racism if the latest Cannibal Corpse single was removed from the hip-hop charts.
Any accusations of racism over this track are complete bullshit, and they know it.

This article wasn’t me trying to explain that I’m not racist. I’m sure those accusations are swirling somewhere out there on Twitter, but this was more about setting in place a set of objective facts about the situation in response to the accusation that Billboard and country music at large purposely excluded this song due to racism.

It didn’t need to be explained. Nobody with a brain cell takes these kooks seriously. You’ve given Rolling Stone credibility by rebutting them.
It’s like you’re saying, “Sure, I can see why this might appear racist, but I assure you it’s not, and here’s why.”

Honestly, I’m so tired of this crap (everything being called racist), that I might’ve written an article titled, “Old Town Road Is Too Black For Country Music”, for the sole purpose of seeing how many white SJWs I could make cry.

I get that you’re trolling me, and it’s cute. Trolling can be fun. I used to troll the inbreds over at Breitbart, relentlessly. But let’s go hypothetical for a minute, and pretend you’re serious.

My position is that people like the Rolling Stone writer should either be ignored or mocked, in a completely non-emotional way. I’m not saying with 100% certainty that I’m not triggered, but maybe I fail to understand what being triggered means.

Hey I never do this but I have never read an article that made me so angry before in 24 years.
Your completely ignorant and it’s scary to see how many people are so fast to support you.
I’m sorry but I don’t have the energy to explain to you why YOUR way of thinking is more dangerous, especially at these times.
I hope you gain some clarity in your lifetime.
Sorry for you.

It is a dangerous reduction of the use of the term “racism” to simply employ it as an attempted trump card, especially in important discussions. If you believe something is racist, challenge it with strong ideas and well-formed opinions, attempt to defeat it with rhetoric that compels people to your side of the argument. Otherwise, you leave the racism to fester, and the only thing you’ve accomplished is an embellished sense of your own superiority at the expense of sharing enlightenment with someone else.

@Anti Racism, as an Afro-Canadian male myself, please lay the frak off of Trigger, and go find someplace else on the Internet (Tumblr, I’m guessing) where you can say the bullshit you just said. Nas was out of line in doing this, and you know that (how would you like it if a country star piggybacked onto rap/hip-hop to release a song?)

If it charted, it charted. That means that someone liked it, a lot of someones. Take Kid Rock a White Rapper who could not make it in Rap, turned Rock Star and now Trump supporter. How is that for a switcharoo.

while I don’t think you’re racist, i think you’re acting a bit too “Anita sarkeesian” here by throwing around the word misogynistic, if anything it makes you look like a soft little offended boy, calling out rap for being misogynistic is nothing new nor groundbreaking, and nothing has changed to change rap’s lyrical content, gives off a weird sjw vibe with you

“Unanimously, everyone kind of looked at it as a gimmick. They looked at it the same way they looked at the yodel guy.” But the “yodel guy,” Mason Ramsey, is white, and when a viral moment — albeit one without trap drums — took him to the country charts, he was allowed to stay there.”
What the fuck did I just read?! This is the definition of sensationalized media meant only to divide. That quote is the biggest pile of bullshit I’ve ever read. Comparing mason ramsey to little nas is like comparing Tupac to Merle Haggard.

Yes, that particular point from the Rolling Stone article troubles me to my very core of the future of civilization. To act like the only difference between Mason Ramsey and Lil Nas X is race is so incredibly irresponsible. I really don’t know how an article like that got posted, and there is no logical way to justify the title in any capacity.

The decision to remove “Old Town Road” from the country charts is now over a week old, but it wasn’t until the Rolling Stone article that it has caused a massive internet shit storm. Rolling Stone has done this multiple times now. My concerns about the radical politicization of music are not hyperbole. They have now been born out multiple times, and they’re only likely to get worse as Rolling Stone’s business model continues to falter, and sensationalism is the only way for them to stay afloat.

Its also a total cop out. “Albeit one without trap drums” as if to say trap drums are now part of the country music culture. This isn’t about race, its about someone writing a hit piece to gain attention. Why can’t people write about the music and keep political agendas out of it?

Music and politics have been hand in hand for eons (witness artists like Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Joe Strummer, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, and countless others over the last century, as well as the artists who worked on this complation album.) Yes, this current kerfuffle is bogus, but to say that politic and music haven’t ever intermixed is the height of naivety, especially considering all of the patriotic songs recorded by country artists to bolster the current wars the United States has fought, as well as anything else similar in tone after 9/11.

After Rolling Stone libeled a UVA fraternity , it’s young men and the university’s administration in connection with patently false allegations, it forfeited any credibility it had on any topic whatsoever, including music and race relations.

I used to get Rolling Stone mag in the mail for free, for years, because of some concert ticket I bought. It used to be an entertaining read for air travel and bathroom time. No more. Now, anytime I can “opt-in” for a free subscription, I decline. Rolling Stone giving away their shit rag for free, just to juke their circulation numbers to attract higher ad fees? No thanks, not gonna be part of that.

There has definitely been a mission creep over years to desensitize the country music listening public to accept anything as country. Now if you don’t, you’ll be accused of racism, sexism, be deplatformed and shunned. This has nothing to do with music anymore. This is about subjugating country music to the monoculture, and if it doesn’t acquiesce, destroying it.

Ridiculous that RS is trying to compare Lil Nas X to Mason Ramsey here. Yes, they’re both young “stars” that ascended through meme culture, but there’s a MASSIVE difference. Ramsey was “allowed to stay” not because he’s a white boy, but because he went viral performing a cover of one of the most iconic traditional country hits of all time. That’s not even close to making a rap song with “cowboy” lyrics and trying to pass it off on SoundCloud under the Country category.

When you’re a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail. I’m glad that there’s people out there concerned about racism in culture and have their antenna perked for possible inequalities creeping into culture, and I try to be on guard for that as well. But this is an instance where misunderstanding and downright ignorance is causing collateral damage and unnecessary conflict where there doesn’t need to be. The Lil Nas X vs. Mason Ramsey is a perfect illustration of just how out-of-touch these individuals are. And when you’re accusing an entire genre of racially-motivated segregation, you better have your facts straight. Ignoring Beyonce’s performance on the CMA Awards, and Jimmie Allen’s multi-week #1 debut, which was the best in 20 years are facts you want to bring to the table, even if you bring them to the table to refute their legitimacy. This whole argument was just so poorly formed that it’s dangerous, and I am seeing otherwise very intelligent individuals right now on Twitter spreading completely bogus assertions based on this non-country reporter’s hit piece.

Lyrics are basic, beat is nice. Blame pop country for allowing this. He manipulated country tropes and honestly should be rewarded for bringing this discussion to the forefront. I love Saving Country but it targets a niche audience. He brought this discussion to main stream. If people will dig deeper and focus on the content not the race. I do not expect main stream journalism to go this route, but people should.

How many country artists are from elsewhere, but move to Nashville and have 0 country to them? Yet they get pushed as such. They create pop music with just a little instrument change then poof. Because Sam Hunt knows no one in pop is letting him break in like that. Dan+Shay is a 90s pop boy group. They wouldn’t last. Hell I’d rather have this as number 1 than BeBe Rexa or anything FGL. At least it’s obvious what he’s trying to do here. I give him a hand for trying.

It’s all part of the marketing game and the world of the internet. Most music sites don’t have paid staff or ‘educated’ contributors, leaving it to listeners to categorize songs, so you can get a piece of music that is clearly one type, say jazz, but it will be tagged with fourteen different genre categories.

Very good points – I went straight to you when I saw BBC News had picked up on it. Why was Jon Bernstein or Marissa Moss not asked to write the OpEd on the song, when it IS their field and RS has their RS Country strand?

Eh, the less Marissa Moss analytical content, the better. I respect the reporting she did with regard to harassment at country radio, but her opinion is typically a mess. She may know country a bit better than some other people out there, but she’s still guilty of the exaggeration, sensationalism and pigeonholing found in the current article.

Dragged it the song isn’t “shitty” mind you, you do realize 56% of your article is bias as hell right, you’re talking about immature cursing in an article, mind you cursing is such a low standard of vocabulary…He deserved more than getting taken down, i will never, ever have respect for what billboard has done.

It’s not racist to kick someone out of a chart because of a misunderstanding. I highly doubt hard core hip hop or rap fans want to see a Cody Johnson or George Strait song on their charts. And give me a break why does a god damn offensive meme have to be put on the country charts. I find Lil Nas x to be divisive and offensive.

I wouldn’t want to see a Cody Johnson or George Strait song on a hip-hop chart. I have to much respect for hip-hop as its own autonomous genre to see that happen, and if it did, I would opposed it as vehemently as I’ve opposed Lil Nas X being on a country chart. But you don’t see country artists trying to manipulate the hip-hop system in their favor, taking away precious slots and attention from hip-hop artists. Yet we’re seeing this constantly from pop and hip-hop stars.

I agree that the Rolling Stone article is bullshit.
But I also agree that it looks really bad when the call for non-country songs to be taken off the country chart is finally answered and it’s a black artist that gets removed. I think you could definitely argue that the public perception of this could do more harm to country music’s image than “Old Town Road” could have done on the chart.
I know that in 2019 it’s passé to try and look at things from both sides, but I just can’t fully support or go against one argument on this subject.

“I agree that the Rolling Stone article is bullshit. But I also agree that it looks really bad when the call for non-country songs to be taken off the country chart is finally answered and it’s a black artist that gets removed.”

First off, nobody was concerned about it looked that Lil Nas X had been removed from the country charts until Rolling Stone published its hit piece, blaming country music specifically for his removal in their title, which is an unequivocal lie. He had been removed 10 days previous, and there was no uproar. Only when Rolling Stone saw the click bait nature of the story did it become a big uproar.

Also, this is why it’s so important to create a full picture of the situation. Just a few months ago, Jimmie Allen, a black performer, had the best debut on the country charts in nearly 20 years with “Best Shot.” If you’re going to accuse country music for excluding an artist exclusively due to race, you MUST include this information as at least a counterbalance to your argument, even if you brush it off later as insignificant. Not including it at all, while mentioning Beyonce’s supposed Grammy snub, but NOT how she performed at the CMAs proves you fit history to fit your preformulated argument.

I agree with you on these points, Trig. That’s why I said the article is bullshit. Leaving out context to support a political narrative is hack journalism at best.
I was speaking more in regard to those on the outside looking in. Even with the context of Jimmie Allen and Beyonce at the CMAs, Country Music’s reputation is going to take a hit with many people. As a passionate country fan, I don’t want that. I don’t want to have to defend this art form to anyone for any reason, which is another reason why I can’t take a side here. I see problems and valid points on both ends.

(Also, I’m not sure how my tone could be perceived, so I want to state before i post that I’m not trying to argue with you, or anyone else in these comments for that matter. I’m making sense of this as best I can.)

Totally agree that from the outside looking in, this doesn’t look good, and it’s getting worse as credible journalists are getting hoodwinked left and right into believing that “country music” as if it’s some living, breathing entity decided to purposely exclude this song from its ranks due to race as the Nashville Twitter echo chamber where the vast majority of these journalists reside does its worst. I feel like I’m living in a zombie movie, where everyone else that I love and respect has turned into a zombie, and I’m the only one left. And if I try to pipe up more about this issue, all it’s going to do is make these same otherwise sane and rational people dig into their positions, because they don’t want to know the truth, and it’s unpopular, and possibly career altering if they even question this clearly incorrect and agenda-laden reporting from Rolling Stone.

Nailed it Triggerman. These media folks are not interested in the truth of a matter or the actual facts. You could diagram it out on a chalkboard right in front of them with unassailable logic and irrefutable facts and their programmed response is always gonna be “your racist”, your a bigot. Don’t cloud my narrative with your irritating facts! Honestly some of you commentars on this board haven’t even read the article. Pathetic, guys. Read, educate yourself, use reading comprehension and then formulate an opinion. Zombies indeed!

Trigger, if it’ll make you feel any better, this is the same shit that’s been done to video games (Gamergate) and science (the whole thing about girls being under-represented in science) for quite a while. I’d like to say millenials are behind this, but really, it’s emoprogressives that are.

Country music EVOLVES and just because you po boys cannot understand what country music is TODAY then you’ll never be ha;hdjgl;asdhgsa;dhg sorry i’m sorry, i can’t even today… this is the worst song i’ve ever heard. It makes Bebe and Sam Hunt sound like Connie Smith and Conway Twitty.

I don’t think it’s bad at all, if only because it’s clearly not meant to be taken even a little seriously. “Cowboy hat from Gucci, Wrangler on my booty” makes me laugh my ass off. Obviously the song needed to be removed from the country charts, because it is a straight up rap song with no country elements, but I’ve got to tip my Gucci cowboy hat to Lil Nas for some excellent marketing/trolling.

I don’ wanna get ino any racial implications of this mix-up ….so I won’t.
But ever since Shania Twain and Taylor Swift were considered ‘country’ , should we really be concerned about anything like chart bullshit anymore ? ( Dan and Shay ?……FGL..?…Hunt ?..Hayes …? Maren Morris ?….Brown..?……Rhett ..? Urban ?….)

I promote every COUNTRY artist Trigger or anyone else brings to my attention by sharing that discovery with anyone who I think will ‘get it ‘ . That’s the mission for me where championing COUNTRY MUSIC is concerned .

The article/racism claim is obviously ridiculous. And I think Trigger is so right to point out the fact that no one cared about this issue when it happened. They only cared about it when Rolling Stone said it was racist, because then A) you get to be part of conversation that’s generating a lot of traffic and B) it’s an opportunity to prove how “woke” you are by calling out “racism.”

But what’s odd to me is that they went with the Mason Ramsey comparison (I mean – i get why they did – but it’s such a bad comparison), when they probably had a more legitimate argument in Kacey Musgraves’ “High Horse.”

That’s a 100% pop song (less country than even this one) that was never promoted to country radio (and, in fact, promoted to Hot AC radio), yet it charted on Hot Country Songs. There’s no sonic or promotional reason for why High Horse should get to chart in country while Old Town Road shouldn’t, which means you could argue superficial, irrelevant factors (not necessarily racism – but certainly the artist’s past genre classification) are at play.

It doesn’t matter what Billboards actual intent was (sincere or not). The action indirectly becomes racist because the song is just as country as a lot of the crap that isn’t being removed from the genre. Billboard took the hit for this because for far too long there has been no gatekeeper(s) preventing Music Row from labeling all kinds of non Country as Country. Billboard finally took a stand and unfortunately it was a black artist.

The problem here is that very few people are blaming Billboard for this, they’re blaming country music as a whole due to Rolling Stone’s click-bait headline incorrectly claiming that country music as a genre made this decision instead of Billboard. So now country music as a whole is being labeled racist, even though the only reason Lil Nas X was ever considered country was to manipulate the metadata for better chart placement, and the only reason he was kicked out was due to him not belonging there.

I’ve seen some people making a variation of this argument, but it neglects the important fact that all these supposedly non-country songs were still wholeheartedly promoted as country singles. We can say songs by Thomas Rhett, Florida Georgia Line, Sam Hunt, etc aren’t country, but they’ve always positioned themselves and their music as country. If they ended up getting pop airplay, it was always long after launching the song as a country radio single. Pop was NEVER the main focus.

Lil Nas X has never, to my knowledge, previously positioned himself as a country artist. He may have labeled this song as “country” on digital platforms, but the Rolling Stone article itself acknowledged that the labeling was more about strategy than sincerity. The fact that Columbia is promoting this song to pop and rhythmic radio but not country further proves that point.

I’m not saying that there aren’t some weird issues on the chart; as I mentioned elsewhere, Kacey Musgraves’ High Hopes should not have been eligible for Hot Country Songs. But I feel like people are way overreaching with this “half the songs on the chart aren’t really country, so why should we exclude Old Town Road” argument, as there’s a clear difference between how the songs were positioned within the market.

Yea just blame white people, ignore the facts.
All their fault; those boogeymen.

Good business move on Nas X. Make that cheddar anyway you can. However, it just shows that country music today is so nebulous that you can actually lodge an argument that an obviously rap/hip-hop song is country or belongs in the genre.

White boy with a typewriter trying to tell black folks how they should make music. If a person needs to explain why their post isn’t racist, you can bet the post and the person are racist. This same person has also tries to tell woman and the LGBT community how to respond to the world THEY deal with. Blog Boy, your are one well-rounded bigot. Why do you insist on writing about things you know nothing about? Are you that hard-up to get dimwitted hillbillies to eyeball your vanity blog?

Note to the genius “Raekwon5” – Nobody is advocating the genetic superiority of one race over another anywhere in this entire thread..THAT would be racism or “racist” – Pro tip: Learn the definition of “racism” “bigotry” and “judgementalism” to avoid looking foolish – You’re welcome.

Elias Leight—who is not a country music reporter—asserts, “Expelling Lil Nas X’s single from Hot Country Songs points to a complicated racial dynamic. The music industry still relies heavily on old-fashioned definitions of genre, which have always mapped on race—Billboard’s R&B chart, for example, was originally titled ‘race music.’ “

No it wasn’t. It was originally titled “Harlem Hit Parade”. Billboard changed it to “race records” several years later before settling on “rhythm and blues”.

It’s either more ignorance by the reporter or deliberate race baiting by the reporter to stir up more trouble.

Most likely the latter. It is highly unlikely someone from a knowledgable music magazine who has studied Billboard magazine issues and has enough knowledge to know that billboard called their rhythm and blues chart “race records” at one point in time doesn’t know that chart was originally called “Harlem Hit Parade”

Of course, telling the truth that it was originally called “Harlem Hit Parade” wouldn’t stir up any trouble between races like deliberately telling the lie that it was originally called “race records” because they are racist would and does.

It’s even in Wikipedia that it was originally called “Harlem Hit Parade” and I have confirmed that by looking in the back issues online myself.

And not in that chart, but I even found (noticed) a country record listed a week or so before Billboard started their (little known today) monthly “Hillbilly Hits of the Month” in I think 1939.

I didn’t bother listening to it. But I’m reminded of Kid Rock’s song that went ‘i wanna be a cowboy, baby’ which got played at a few country festival after parties.
Meh, if its for novelty value then treat it as such and who cares where it is. BUT it should be excluded from all charts for gaming the system.

But hey, I’m just someone who doesn’t care if the world calls me racist so maybe don’t listen to me.

Aaaaaaand, just this morning on Good Morning America, the acclaimed Bobby Bones folded like a road-map, lawn-chair and paper-airplane in saying “I play it on my show (which we all know isn’t true because he doesn’t have final say on “his” show’s playlists) and if the message is country then it can be considered a country song.” I am paraphrasing, but it was the typical mealy-mouthed nonsense you usually get from him, when he ACTUALLY had a decent chance to stand up for the facts in the case. Jason Aldean, nor his fans, ever griped about “Dirt Road Anthem” not being included on Hip-Hop charts — to my recollection — but that has little to do with this argument because it’s a garbage song in the first place. I am sure somebody on this forum will quote Bobby Bones more fully, and thus relay and replay just how facile contributors to the “Monogenre” are …

I agree with much of the article and I hate Rolling Stone. I just want to make 3 dissenting points.
1. Another article – I forget which – did a better job of mentioning the racial angle when asking why Kid Rock, a self-described rapper/rocker, has always gotten to stay on the country charts while this single doesn’t.
2. The personal attacks on Lil Nas X and his song are uncalled for and if I may add hypocritical. PLENTY of country sounds are bad, immature and misogynistic, OK? And Lil Nas X is far from the first to game genres to get attention. The most infamous example is Madonna, who got her early songs classified as R&B and shot up the charts because she was unknown in pop and rock. Others who did this included Kids On The Block, Marky Mark (Mark Walhberg) and later the Backstreet Boys/N’Sync/Britney Spears/Justin Timberlake Disney era. Look, cons are crimes. You are calling this guy a con artist, a literal criminal, for doing things that other artists do all the time in the country music business for various reasons and that is way over the line. Look, Lil Nas X never asked Rolling Stone to write this article, nor has he endorsed – or so much as commented on – the controversy. He hasn’t done squat to merit the ire you are directing his way.
3. Back to Rolling Stone, there is some racial context: songs done by black artists that would be considered other genres if they were done by white artists all get labeled R&B and only get considered for Grammy and other awards as R&B. This wasn’t much of a problem in the 80s when the Jacksons, Prince, Whitney Houston, Billy Ocean etc. were often on the pop and rock charts. But since the 90s it’s been nearly impossible for a song by a black artist to get charted or considered outside R&B/hip-hop unless that artist exclusively devotes himself to the non R&B/hip-hop genre. White artists on the other hand are far more likely to have their songs charted in multiple genres. That is the difference between Jimmie Allen – an exclusively country artist – and white artists who are able to get songs listed as country/rock/pop or rock/pop/R&B simultaneously all the time. I agree that singling out country is unfair. It is a far bigger issue for pop because there is no distinct “pop” sound or form that there is for country and rock. And it is a bigger issue for rock than country because a lot of black artists over the years have purposefully tried to make a rock song or two only to have it listed as R&B anyway. But there are TONS of songs that have listed on the country tracks over the years that never would have been had they been made by black artists, as well as TONS of songs listed not listed on the country tracks that would have been had the artists were white. That is why the “Mason Ramsey was listed as country because he remade one of the top country songs of all time” thing doesn’t account for – black artists remake rock, pop, and country songs all the time and they still get classified as R&B/hip-hop. To put it another way, you want to know the difference between Shania Twain’s “You’re Still The One” and Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”? Well one was a remake of a hit country song, one wasn’t. But it was the song that WASN’T a remake of a country song that was charted as one AND won awards as one. It charted as a country song when Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and LeeAnn Rimes sang it but not when Houston sang it.

Maybe Lil Nas X and his song is a horrible example of it but there are histories and issues here that aren’t being acknowledged.

While it is NOT a country song, it is somewhat catchy. And at less than two minutes, it’s pretty easy to listen to. As long as people are hating on ‘rolling stone’ and not on this singer. He just played the system . . and won.

It is easy to see it as racism when the the Billboard Country Chart includes not too incredibly different sounding pop shit from Sam Hunt, Bebe, Kane Brown etc. The country billboard chart is a joke. This is better than anything I heard from those garbage artists. At the end of the day it is obviously a rap song, but probably one of the better genre hybrids. It is way better than this shit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qfx7KaQTKE which is on the country top 50.

Bubba sparxxx back in the mud. That was on my madden game where I used to beat it to cheerleader trading cards at my grandma’s house when I was a youngin. Trigger I understand if you remove this comment

No, I don’t know nothing about Hip Hop, or at least not very much. That’s why I would never be so presumptuous as to tell Hip Hop who and what it should accept into its ranks. Instead I respect it’s autonomy, and it’s choice to include whomever it wishes within its ranks. And I most certainly would never attack Hip Hop just because something that may have hip hop elements ins’t included on its charts. We should respect and embrace the differences in genre. It’s what makes American culture a rich, vibrant tapestry of expressions.

“However this accusation that country music or Billboard is excluding Lil Nas X because he’s black is absolutely irresponsible and unfounded. Though Elias Leight brings up Beyonce, and how her song “Daddy Lessons” was not allowed to compete for a Grammy Award in 2016, he fails to point out (as is always the case when this anecdotal story is brought up) that Beyonce was invited to perform the song along with the Dixie Chicks at the 50th Annual CMA Awards, and the performance was the centerpiece of the entire event. If country music was excluding Beyonce or black artists in general, how was this allowed to happen?”
Do you mean the Beyonce performance that you railed on about? That she ought not to have performed? And with the Dixie Chicks, no less? Interesting turn.

I didn’t rail on the Beyonce performance. I thought it was fine. Philosophically I’m opposed to any non country performer playing a country awards show because it takes a spot away from a country artist, which is especially troubling when women are receiving so little support. I did report on Travis Tritt criticizing it, and Alan Jackson walking out on it. But that’s just reporting the news.

The point is if the only material evidence you can cite to say Lil Nas X was eliminated from the country charts is that Beyonce wasn’t nominated for a Grammy award (which “country music” has no control over), that’s a pretty flimsy case, and any objective journalist would be obligated to point out Beyonce WAS asked to give the marquee performance of the CMA’s 50th Anniversary.

Oh what do you know, he went out and found washed up billy ray cyrus to push the agenda. Country music doesn’t want or need filthy rap lyrics infiltrating the genre, this is nothing but a test to see just how far it can be infiltrated. I’m sure this lil nas X is being backed by far left wingers to destroy country music even more. Country music is to conservatives as a mosque is to muslims, this is no coincidence.

The country genre is starting to finally head back in a slightly better direction, and now we have “bull ridin and boobies” “cheated on my baby” attempting to exploit country music. This is just a test by the far left to pay us back for “evil ole trump”. Sitting back and laughing as we vomit in disgust.

Also to the people annoyed with trigger for bringing this topic to the forefront, shame on you. You’re on a website called “saving country music” and you can’t see the future if Lil X’s bs isn’t spotlighted. A top 100 billboard with 30 different Lil ___’s rapping about cheating and booty shaking, all with the label ‘country’ attached to it.

Nip it in the bud now before it’s a worse cancer than you ever thought FGL’s cruise was.

Been following your work for awhile and admire what you do in saving this genre. But I’m commenting for the first time just to chime in with a few questions on this topic.

If Florida Georgia Line can borrow hip hop rhythms and use auto tune, if Sam Hunt can incorporate hip hop / pop vibes, if Maren Morris can make what feels like straight pop with a slight twang, if our queen Kacey Musgraves can innovate a 21st century “country,” why is “Old Town Road” different? This isn’t a baited question.

If “Old Town Road” is rightly off the charts because you believe it’s hip hop sampling from country, shouldn’t we folks who want to save country music be fighting harder for FGL and Sam Hunt to be removed from charts? And why haven’t those artists ever had their spots on the charts questioned?

I get it, “Old Town Road” sounds different. But to me, it sounds just as country, if no more so, than a lot of FGL songs.

I believe the country genre has the capacity to expand to allow innovation that will keep the genre relevant while still being tethered in its beautiful roots and traditions. I believe Kacey Musgraves has shown us that. I’m not saying Lil Nas X is the next Kacey Musgraves, I’m just asking, why didn’t he get the benefit of doubt? When so many other artists have?

“If “Old Town Road” is rightly off the charts because you believe it’s hip hop sampling from country, shouldn’t we folks who want to save country music be fighting harder for FGL and Sam Hunt to be removed from charts? And why haven’t those artists ever had their spots on the charts questioned?”

Saving Country Music posted nine articles, NINE ARTICLES demanding that “Meant To Be” by Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line be removed from the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. And these were just the dedicated articles, not the mentions in probably a dozen more articles about how it was incorrect from that song to be included on the country charts. Similar coverage also was given to Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Backroad,” which broke the record for most weeks at #1 before “Meant To Be,” as well as songs from other artists.

The idea that country fans sat on their hands with other singles, and then expressly went after Lil Nas X is an absolute lie being perpetrated by the same media who made a Twitter troll, Shane Morris, who has spent years sending death threats to young girls on social media, into a “Country Music Executive.”

Ad nauseum, Saving Country Music and others have steadfastly and dedicatetedly opposed the inclusion of dozens of singles from white artists on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Saying otherwise is just another symptom of the horrifically uninformed way much of media outside of country music is handling this topic.

Also, there is a huge different between using a snap track in a song, and a clear trap beat, which is a primary element of hip-hop. Saying “Old Town Road” is no different than even “Meant To Be” is an aberration of the truth. Lil Nas X’s own manager has admitted that they purposely manipulated the charts by calling the song country to give it a clearer path to the top. When Billboard discovered the subterfuge, a move was made.

I covered this much more in depth in the below article. It also includes the links to the NINE ARTICLES Saving Country Music posted opposing Bebe Rexha on the country charts for verification.

Absolutely, yes. I’m familiar with your opposition. Just want to put it out there – why do we think it worked this time? Why did it get removed?

Country fans have been defending our genre for years. How is Sam Hunt not also gaming the system? Is it because he paid homage first? He had a string of legitimate writing credits in the genre?

I think these are legitimate questions to ask of our genre. I thank you for all your hard work holding the genre to a high standard. I still find it worth examining why this song was removed when others remain.

Okay, well if you say you’re familiar with my opposition, why did you say it didn’t exist in your first question?

“Just want to put it out there – why do we think it worked this time?”

It didn’t work. The opposition of country music fans or “gatekeepers” (as the media likes to say) had absolutely no consequence on Lil Nas X being removed from the country charts. That is one of the underlying points I made in the article above. Pitchfork, Salon, and other media outlets very specifically lied about the timeline of how “Old Town Road” was removed from the country charts, going out of their way to say it was removed AFTER I published my first article on the subject, when in truth the song had already been removed five days before. Why did Pitchfork and Salon attempt to mislead the public about the timeline of the song’s removal? It was to bolster the claims of racism by pinning the removal of the song on the opinions of “purists” as opposed to Billboard discovering how Lil Nas X manipulated the system, and making a necessary correction.

Once again I refer back to the quote from Lil Nas X’s own manager, Danny Kang, who told Rolling Stone, “There’s a way to manipulate the algorithm to push your track to the top. That’s favorable versus trying to go to the rap format to compete with the most popular songs in the world.”

Lil Nas X “Manipulated the algorithm” to get on the country charts. That’s the words of his own manager. People need to understand that the vast majority of press coverage on this issue is full of misinformation, or outright lies.

“How is Sam Hunt not also gaming the system? Is it because he paid homage first? He had a string of legitimate writing credits in the genre?”

Exactly. Granted, I opposed Sam Hunt being on the charts as well, but I get it. The Billboard Hot Country Songs chart is an industry metric for the country music industry. Sam Hunt is part of that industry. Lil Nas X isn’t. Lil Nas X has NEVER PLAYED A LIVE SHOW. He has absolutely no ties to country music whatsoever. He gamed the system. If he wanted to be included on the country charts, perhaps he should have signed to a country label. But he didn’t.

Well-stated, Trigger; hope that ist seeps through to moste of these people dissing you over this article. Hopefully also, they’ll do their homework next time and check on the history of Afro-Americans in country music (Charley Pride in particular) before they publish the screeds that they usually publish and be defendeing aanybody like Lil’ Nas X having a ‘country’ song out that isn’t one (I laos wish that they’d do their homework on a lot of other things related to culture and media as well, but that’s a rant for another time.)

I have no doubt that I’ll burn up a few too many brain cells after addressing the likes of “King Honky of Crackershire”, but no matter…I’m gonna kill them later with moonshine anyway, so here goes.
On behalf of the lesser represented black community in this forum, I’ll play along with the notion that the micro-aggressions following freely here are definitely not racially tinged. *wink*wink*
Clearly, the problem is these liberals and dammed snowflake infiltrators supporting the destruction of REAL country music. Surfing that same wave…do we apply the same standard to Mr. Aldean’s Dirt Road Anthem? Was his {sing “rap” sing} cadence repugnant to all we stand for as country music lovers…or was a different standard applied because he didn’t swerve “out of his lane”?
Mask it…draw all over it…re-label and redefine it to whatever extent makes you feel less “tired” of hearing about it…
I’d even encourage you to take solace in whatever echo chambers that you may find like minded individuals who’ve also figured out that this collective “gripe” has no relevance to reality…
Just know that you’re not fooling anyone, and FYI… these dog whistles really shouldn’t be so noisy…

Also there’s this idea being perpetrated by the media that white artists have never been opposed for being included on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. This is completely untrue. Saving Country Music posted nine dedicated articles demanding of the removal of Bebe Rexha’s “Meant To Be” from Hot Country Songs for not being country, and for being a song from a non country artist.

Also, if you want to read about echo chambers surrounding this Lil Nas X issue, you DEFINITELY need to check this article out: